The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



^ 



ol. XXX 



APRIL, 1907 



No. 4 



I 



Selecting and Planting Fruit Trees 



G. R.eynaud, La Trappe, Quebec 



GREAT care and attention are re- 

 quired in the choice of varieties of 

 the fruit we wish to grow. Avoid, 

 I first, varieties which cannot become 

 acclimated; second, varieties that are 

 unprofitable; and third, any inferior 

 variety. 



Regarding the first it is clear that the 

 trees must be able to stand the cold of 

 our winters. Buy the plants from re- 

 liable nurseries situated in Canada that 

 sell only what they have grown them- 

 selves. One is then sure of having 

 acclimated plants. Regarding the sec- 

 ond, there are some varieties which enjoy 

 a striking fertility; others, while giving 

 fine fruits, are of little or late bearing 

 These are less advantageous. Regarding 

 the last, by inferior qualities we 

 must understand fruits poorly adapted 

 to the intended trade, which sometimes 

 is the only practicable trade. For in- 

 stance, far from trade centres, the 

 summer varieties are of no benefit be- 

 cause they do not keep, and the time 

 for selling is very short. In this case, 

 plant winter fruit, and especially those 

 most in demand in the market. If a 

 large business centre is near by, the 

 earliest bearing varieties pay the best. 

 The sale of early fruits, of primeurs, 

 even if they are not quite ripe, always 

 brings forth a sure profit. 



When there is danger of making a 

 costly mistake ask advice from some 

 expert in the matter. The provincial 

 and federal governments have establish- 

 ed in several places experimental fruit 

 stations precisely with the view of 

 studying the values of the different 

 varieties. There, may be found, at any 

 time, exactd disinterested information. 



Short trunk trees stand the wind 

 better and facilitate the accumulation 

 of snow, so necessary to protect the 

 roots against late colds; but they present 

 the serious inconvenience of rendering 

 cultivation excessively difficult. It is 

 better to buy medium-sized trees. 

 Young plants with five or five and a half 

 foot trunks are high enough to possess 

 all the advantages of any other kind, 

 without the inconveniences. 



PLANTING 



If everything is not ready for planting 

 when the plants come from the nursery, 



they must be placed slightly inclined, 

 one by one, in a trench with the roots 

 covered with earth. When ready to plant 

 the plants can be distributed one by one 

 in the holes, but the roots must not be 

 left uncovered, because they suffer 

 from exposure. Place with the roots 

 at the bottom of the hole and cover 

 with two or three shovelfuls of earth. 



When trees are sent from the nurseries 

 during periods of extreme cold, the box 

 or package should be wrapped and 

 placed in a cool cellar for a few days, 

 where the trees will slowly regain their 

 normal temperature. 



Advanced "Wonderfully 



The Canadian Horticulturist 

 has advanced wonderfully in the 

 last two years, I believe that it is 

 the uniform opinion of the fruit 

 growers of the province that the 

 paper is the best fruit growers' 

 paper now published, and that 

 there is no longer any necessity 

 for going to the United States for 

 such a publication. — P. W. Hod- 

 getts, secretary Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' Association, Toronto. 



Planting must be done in dry weather 

 so that the soil will fill in all the space 

 between the roots. Before putting the 

 trees in the ground they must be pruned, 

 which consists in cutting sharply all 

 the wilted extremities of the roots, and 

 shortening at least by half the branches 

 at the head. This is necessary to give 

 the tree a systematic shape and robust 

 growth. Throw enough earth, mixed 

 with matured and good fertilizer into 

 the hole so that the tree will stand in 

 the ground at about the same height 

 as in the nursery. Place the tree and 

 arrange the roots in their natural position, 

 then cover with more good soil and 

 slightly pack it down. When the roots 

 are completely covered, fill with the 

 surface soil. 



CARE FOLLOWING PLANTING 



The wind in shaking the young trees 

 sometimes prevents them from taking 



root. The remedy for this is props. 

 These are placed at the time of planting 

 before the holes are filled up, on account 

 of the danger of breaking the roots if 

 put in later. The trees are bound to 

 these by means of strips of cloth or 

 some linden bark fibre. 



The bark of a young tree changes a 

 part of the sap into a wood-making sub- 

 stance, called ' 'cambium, ' ' which becomes 

 an integral part of the fibrous body of 

 the trunk and adds to the growth of the 

 roots. It is, then, important to keep 

 the bark in good shape to prevent it 

 from drying and to stop any foreign 

 growth on its surface. To obtain this 

 it is useful during August to wash the 

 bark of the young trees with water in 

 which are dissolved a little soap and 

 some phenic or carbolic acid . This saves 

 the trees from the ravages of insects. 



If the planting season is drj', water 

 the trees often, but only a little at a 

 time. In rapidly drying ground, loose 

 soil on the surface will retain moisture. 



In the fall, do something to protect the 

 young trees from late spring frosts, on 

 account of the extreme sensitiveness 

 caused by the small extent of their 

 radiculary system. One way of doing 

 this is to pile up earth around each tree 

 to about one and a half feet in height; 

 another, to throw in the same place and 

 after the first permanent snow, some 

 strong manure. This manure will pre- 

 vent the snow from melting rapidly; it 

 creates in the soil at the foot of the tree 

 a constant and regular coolness . which 

 keeps back vegetation and saves the 

 young plant from the dangerous results 

 of frost and thaw. Remove the earth 

 or manure as soon as danger is passed. 



One must abstain from pruning young 

 trees during their first year in their new 

 place. It would stop the growth of 

 fresh roots and result in the death of 

 the tree; or, if it lived, through it 

 would cause in the tree an excessive 

 sensitiveness to the inclemency of the 

 weather. Notwithstanding, all branches 

 grown on parts of the tree where they 

 are useless ought to be cut off in the 

 fall. In cases where it is feared that 

 snow might break the branches, they 

 should be bound to the aforementioned 

 props. 



